Day 2 of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Montreal Main Event wrapped up Monday as nearly 200 players were eliminated, whittling the field of 234 survivors from the three Day 1 flights to just 43. David Peters is the chip leader going into Day 3 with 1.614 million chips, but Feizal Satchu is close behind with 1.521 million. Nobody else has more than 900,000 chips.
Looking through the WPT.com live reporting, there was clearly one hand that was the most entertaining of the day. Hand-for-hand on the money bubble, Senthuran Vijayaratnam, an amateur player who said he had been raising quite a lot with any two cards, raised to 11,500 (5,000 chip big blind) under the gun and called when Jamie Sequeira re-raised to 35,000.
On the flop of K-T-2, both men checked. With a 5 on the turn, Vijayaratnam bet 40,000 and Sequeira called. On the river 7, which also put three spades on the board, Vijayaratnam moved all-in, putting Sequeira to a decision for his tournament life. Knowing he could be eliminated on the verge of the money, Sequeira got defensive, talking about how “blessed” Vijayaratnam was and how “fucking crazy” he was to bet that much on the bubble.
It got even better when Sequeira asked Vijayaratnam what he thought he had, a question that doesn’t often get answered during the hand. Vijayaratnam, though, told Sequeira he thought he had Aces. This, naturally, got Sequeira even more tense, as he said, “Aces? And you play me like that? You play me like that preflop?”
If Vijayaratnam’s goal as to put his opponent on tilt it was working.
Sequeira used two of his 30-second time chips (the Action Clock was in effect) while still thinking out loud about what his foe might have. After finally folding, Vijayaratnam shows his Q-7 bluff.
Of course, this hurt Sequeira’s feelings and he says, “Remember, what goes around comes around. It comes around.”
Yeah, maybe. Sometimes people bluff in poker.
Sequeira did make the money, but didn’t make it far after the bubble burst. Vijayaratnam ended the day in seventh place with 680,000 chips.
Vijayaratnam sounds like my kind of guy. He realizes that poker is fun. Sure, they are all trying to win money out there, but why not enjoy yourself while doing so? He told WPT.com afterward:
The thing is, I don’t play poker for a living. That’s why nobody knows me. I literally only come to Montreal. Really nowhere else. I have family and I have work. I have fun playing poker, so that’s why I was showing my bluffs. I have fun with this, and I show it. This cameras are there, this might make for good coverage, so I show it, and then he went on for the next few minutes, going after me, blah, blah, blah.
You go on with your bad self.
2017 World Poker Tour Montreal Main Event – Day 2 Chip Leaders
1. David Peters – 1,614,000
2. Feizal Satchu – 1,521,000
3. Justin Liberto – 875,000
4. Duff Charette – 798,000
5. Yu Gao – 714,000
6. Brady Hinnegan – 690,000
7. Senthuran Vijayaratnam – 680,000
8. Bradley Ellis – 592,000
9. Debra Ann Holman – 572,000
10. Alex Keating – 561,000
